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Recommended Reading: Painful memories the algorithms won't let you forget
Recommended Reading highlights the week's best long-form writing on technology and more.
An Excel error may have led England to under-report COVID-19 cases
A day after the UK government announced its highest number of new coronavirus cases in England, the reason behind the drastic rise has reportedly been revealed.
The London Marathon will go ahead thanks to social-distancing wearables
The organizers of the London Marathon have announced that they will use distance-measuring ‘Bump’ devices to keep roughly 100 athletes safe as they participate in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair races. The hardware will also be worn by 500 members of staff that are necessary to carry out the event on Sunday (October 4th). “Tharsus’s Bump technology has played an important role, giving our athletes and internal teams extra confidence to engage with the event safely,” Hugh Brasher, event director for the London Marathon said.
Samsung is selling a wireless charger that also sterilizes your phone
In a bid to give its customers an phone-cleaning option that doesn’t involve an antibacterial wipe, Samsung has begun selling a wireless UV charger that promises to “kill up to 99 percent of bacteria within 10 minutes.” The ITFIT UV Sterilizer is a very unremarkable white box that Samsung says is spacious enough to fit a Galaxy S20 Ultra. The embedded 10-watt Qi charger will deliver power while it does its thing.
College Board prepares digital SATs in case schools remain closed
Digital versions of the SAT and ACT exams are being developed in case school shutdowns continue.
As cinephiles shelter, studios are catching on to virtual movie nights
Compared to a Twitter Watch Party, a Netflix Party is a more intimate affair.
Nextdoor allows businesses to reach out about pandemic relief efforts
Facebook isn't the only site that added ways for people to help out their community during the pandemic. Nextdoor is doing the same thing, with several new updates that'll let you and fellow community members lend a hand to local businesses that might be in need. Starting today, local merchants can update their Business Profile pages with different methods of assistance. They can add a gift card website address, add a page that instruct users how to buy gift cards if the latter isn't available, and if they want, will now be able to add a GoFundMe campaign link in the Story section. For restaurants in particular, the Business page can also be customized for take-out and delivery options through services like DoorDash, Grubhub or Uber Eats. Businesses that have been designated as a "Nextdoor Neighborhood Favorite" by the community will also be able to post updates to the main news feed, which is a good place to share information like new store hours or different services. Last but not least, Nextdoor has added a Coronavirus Resource Center for local business owners to get other news and advice that they can use to help boost their business. This follows a recent Nextdoor update where it added Help Maps and Groups to connect neighbors during the pandemic.
Fitness pros on how to give your lockdown workouts a tech upgrade
Home fitness has come a long way since Richard Simmons' "Sweating to the Oldies." Be it expensive Peloton bikes, affordable workout apps or free YouTube videos, there's a plethora of fitness tech to choose from. Now, anyone can keep fit from the comfort of their living room, especially helpful when you're forced to stay home due to a global pandemic. But with so many options available, it's tough to figure out where to start. So we asked several physical trainers and fitness experts on the kind of tech they use to get fit at home, as well as what they recommend for most people.
Sony and Facebook withdraw from GDC due to coronavirus concerns
Mobile World Congress 2020 isn't the only trade show affected by COVID-19, otherwise known as the new coronavirus disease. Facebook has just announced that it will withdraw its presence from the annual Game Developer's Conference this year. In doing so, it will pull both Facebook Gaming and Oculus booths and have advised all employees to not attend the show. A Facebook spokesperson sent in this statement: "Out of concern for the health and safety of our employees, our dev partners, and the GDC community, Facebook will not be attending this year's Game Developer Conference due to the evolving public health risks related to COVID-19. We still plan to share the exciting announcements we had planned for the show through videos, online Q&As, and more, and will plan to host GDC partner meetings remotely in the coming weeks." COVID-19 has had a big effect on the tech industry so far. Due to coronavirus concerns, MWC 2020 was cancelled, Apple has warned of iPhone supply shortages and Sony has pulled out of PAX East. Update 4:15pm ET: Sony has announced that it too will be pulling out from GDC. Here's the company's statement: We have made the difficult decision to cancel our participation in Game Developers Conference due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as coronavirus). We felt this was the best option as the situation related to the virus and global travel restrictions are changing daily. We are disappointed to cancel our participation, but the health and safety of our global workforce is our highest concern. We look forward to participating in GDC in the future.
